Molly Ringwald: 'I was so afraid' to show my daughter 'The Breakfast Club'

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Nov. 10, 2016 / 4:54 PM GMT / Source: TODAY

By Randee Dawn

If you grew up in the 1980s, you couldn't help but know who Molly Ringwald was. The redheaded teen appeared in three generation-defining films by John Hughes — "16 Candles," "The Breakfast Club" and "Pretty in Pink" — before growing up and moving on.

But now that she's a mom with a teen herself, she admitted on TODAY Thursday that letting her 13-year-old Matilda watch those old movies was not an easy task.

"She's seen all three of the John Hughes films and she liked them," Ringwald told Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford. But as she noted, "Breakfast Club" was the one she really hoped would make a good impression on Matilda.

Fortunately, that was absolutely not a problem. "She really connected to it," said Ringwald. "She connected to it in a way that I didn't quite expect."

Molly Ringwald starred in "The Breakfast Club" in 1985.Alamy

Meanwhile, Ringwald is currently appearing in a staged version of another 1980s classic, "Terms of Endearment," in New York City. But brace yourselves, Generation X-ers: She's playing the Shirley MacLaine role. How can she possibly be old enough?

"When I first got the call it didn't seem possible," said Ringwald. "Shirley MacLaine has an absolutely flawless, flawless performance. But she was 50 years old when she got the Academy Award for it which means she was 48, 49 [when it was filmed] and I'm 48. So...."

Molly Ringwald is currently starring onstage in "Terms of Endearment."TODAY